Straight bar knitting machine



ASept- 4, 1945' T. cA BROMLEY ET Al. I l2,384,154

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 25, 1942 5 Shets-Sheet l Inventnrs Thomas' C mmlegvz /Oe /od la; Att'orn y Sept. 4, 1945. T. c. BRoMLx-:Y Erl-AL.

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MGHINEl Filed Nov. 25, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Attom Sept, 4, 1945. T. c. BROMLEY ETAL 2,384,154

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 25, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors I Tammley and L'h/ortla/wl,

y Attprn 1 'Patented Sept. 4, 1945 Thomas Charles Bromley andArthur v'Shfortland, Leicester, England, assignorsto Mellor Bromley and Co'. Limited, Leicestenhgland Application November 25, 1942;Serial N 0.466,891

. In Great Britain Octoberl'l', 1941 1 7 Clarins, (orcs-'1105 This invention is for improvements in andrelating to straight bar knitting machines wherein sinkers are moved in unison by means of a catch bar, and is primarily concerned with machines (of which the Cottons patentisthe chief embodiment) wherein sinkers are projected one after another by a slurcock or equivalent device but are also moved in unison by a catch bar. In a Cottons patent machine, jack sinkers, which have short butts, are projected one after another by the slurcock and subsequently dividing sinkers, having long butts, are projected in unison between Vthe jack sinkers by a catch bar which is always engaged with the butts of the dividing sinkers, while at a later stage all the sinkers are retracted in unison by the catch bar. To this end the catch bar has a rising and falling motion to engage with and disengage from-the butts vof the'jack sinkers, and also a motion towards and away from the sinkerhead to move the sinkers. Prior to vthe projection of the jack sinkers the catch lbar is in a rearward position and is also elevatedso that its front lip is clear of the butts ofthe jack sinkers, thereby permitting the latter to be projected one by one by the traverse of the slurcock. After this projection the catch bar is advancedvtowards the sinker head to `project all the dividingsinkers in the operation of dividing and also to holdthe jack sinkers and the dividingsinkers against the verge' plate or equivalent part of the sinker head. The catch bar is then lowered so that it engages the butts of the jack sinkers, and at a subsequent 'stage is retracted from the sinker headgso that all the` sinkers are retracted in unison. Still later it 4is raised so that its front lip is above the butts of the jack sinkers and everything is ready for the next slurcock traverse. Not only is the mechanism by which these movements are imparted Yto the catch bar complicated, but the risinggand falling movement of the catchmbar to disengage from and engage with the butts of the jack sinkers introduces difliculties. It sometimesY occurs that owing to a slightlymisplaced jack ,sinker or a burred edge on the butt thereof theV catchbar fails to be lowered into correct engagement with the jack sinker butts and as la result, when the said b ar is retracted, the jack sinkers are left in the forward position. A The present invention seeks -to overcome these disadvantages. According to the present invention, inY a CottonsY patent .or other straightfbar `knitting ma.- chine there is a catchl barV comprising two sepa rately movable parts, afront part for engaging lin front of Asinker butts to retractIthem, `andl .a

rear `part Yfor ,engaging behind (sinker, buttsfto 55 advance then, together with means for moving said parts towards and away from the sinker head orrbed. Thus rising' and falling movements ofthe catchbar arefrendered unnecessary. As will be appreciated the invention is primarily concerned with `a machine'- wherein jack sinkers or their equivalent are advanced one by one, dividing sinkers are advanced in unison, and all thesinkers are retracted inunison. The invention provides, in such a machinenneans arranged to eect the following movements: forward movemento the front part prior to' the projection of the jack sinkers; forward movement of the rear partto advance thel dividing sinkers subsequentto vthe projection of fthe' jack sinkers; retraction of the frontipart to retract all sinkers. l A

-'The foregoing and other features ofthe invention;..-set out in the'appended claims, areincorporated in the construction that willnowbe described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Y Figure 1 showsV the relevant parts of aCottons patent` machine incorporating the invention;

Figures? and 3 showv details thereof;

Figure 4 shows la modified catch bar; A f

Figure 5 'is a cross-section: showing a construction alternative tov that shown in Fig. 1; Y

Figure 6 is a yplan ofthe catch bar and certain of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5 v 1.7,

`Figure' 'iis va front elevation of apart of said catch bar while Y Figure is a section through said catch bar illustrating a, stage in its operation. 1

In these drawings, onlyv thosel parts of the straight bar knitting' machine are shown that are essential to an appreciation of the invention, the

rex'nainder'cf the machine being well understood isf'the: equivalent of the front edge orlip of a normal catch bar. The rear part lob comprises -a ibar: which is vadaptedY to be located behind the sinker.l butts, and therefore is the. equivalent of the rear'edge orlp of a normal catch bar., .These two parts-10a.. lill)A maybe caused to. approach .one another soas accurately to locate sinkerblltts that, prior to the traverse of the slurcock 20, the

front part Ia of the catch bar is moved by cam I and truck lever I8 towards the sinker head I2 so that the bar loc forms a verge plate against which the butts I3a of the jack sinkers I3' may be moved by the slurcock. After the traverse of that in order to prevent the dividing sinkers I3" being retracted while the rear part I0b of the catch bar recedes from the front part Illa, the said rear part Illb is not, in this construction, provided with a front lip. When the rear part IIlb has reached the extremity of its retirement the two parts of the catch bar are widely separated (Fig. 8) with the butts of the sinkers between them. The rear part Ib is then moved forward, carrying the front part I0a with it until the latter is positioned against the sinker the slurcock the rear part I 0b is likewise moved 'r forward by cam I4, truck lever I1, and links I9,

and so pushes the butts I3b of the dividing sinkers I3 forward and serves to locate thevbutts of al1 the sinkers against the bar IIlc of the first part Illa. Subsequently the two parts Illa, IIlb are retracted in unison so that all the sinkers are retracted as by the normal catch bar.

Means may be provided for adjusting the forL ward position of the front part [0a of the bar I0, so that after the slurcock 20 has been set a corresponding'adjustment may be made to said front part. The front part may be resiliently positioned in its forward position, for example by resilient stops. The said adjustment for the forward positionof the front part Ia of the bar I0 'may necessitate the provision of means for effecting a corresponding adjustment in the forward position of the rear part IIJb of the bar. Thus in Fig. 2 there are shown screw stops 2Ia, 2lb for therespective parts Ilia, IIlb.

yThe rear part Ib kof vthe catch bar I0 may have a front lip IIId engaging in front of the dividing sinker butts 13b so that the dividing sinkers I3" are at all times under complete control, the said lip Id being arranged to clear the jack sinker butts I3a as will be appreciated from Fig. l, and the dividing sinker butts I3b being always located between the lip Id and that face Ille of theV rearpart IDb that serves to urge the sinker butts forward. The two parts Illa, IUD may be slidably connected, as by screws 23 extending, through slots 22'in part Ia, into part lb.

In the modified construction of catch bar shown in Fig. 4, a normal falling bar 24 is employed, attached to the sinker head I2.

In a modified construction illustrated in Figs. 5-8 both parts of the catch bar derivetheir movements towards and away from the sinker head I2 from one and the same source,-but since relative movement between the two parts is necessarythe front part is frctionally connected to the rear part, For example, the rear part IlIb of the catch bar may have any suitable number ofA rearwardly-extending horizontal friction-box arms 25 on each of which a friction 'box 261is secured. The front part ina of the catch bar likewise has an equivalent number of rearwardlyextending Yslide rods 21 Veach of which extends through a friction box 26 aforesaid. Each arm 25. is connected to a rocking leverV 23 whereby the rear part tb ofthe catch bar is reciprocated, .towards and away from the sinkerhead I2, from a cam or cams 29 on the. camshaft I6 vso that the two parts Illa, IDb will tend to move together but stops 3f! (Fig. 6,), preferably adjustable, areV provided `for terminating the retraction of the front part fla. of the catch bar before the termination of the retraction'of'the'rear part Ib thereof, the friction boxes 25 thereafter .slipping while the rear-part |012 recedes from the'frontpart IIJa. It may here `be mentioned minated by the front stops 3 I,V

head I2 by other adjustable front -stops 3l. This permits the jack sinkers to be projected up to the said front part by a slurcock as illustrated in Fig. 1. Thereafter the rear part IIlb of the catch bar continues to move forward to advance the dividing sinkers, during which continued forward movement the slide rods 21 slip through the frictionboxes 26. At the appropriate stage in the operation of the machine the rear part IIlb is retracted, carrying the front vpart Ina with it, so that all the -sinkers are retracted in unison until the motion of the front part of the bar is terminated by the stops 30 rst mentioned, after which the friction boxes slip While the rear part ofthe bar continues to recede 'for a short Vdistance.`

While it is possible so togarrange the friction boxes that their friction is sufficient to cause the front part I0a of the catch bar to travel with the rear vpart Ib thereof during the retraction of the sinkers it is preferable positively to connect two parts of the bar, for retraction, by means of a releasable connection and to provide means for releasing this connection at or' about the time the rearward movement of the front part Illa is terminated by stops 30. To this end 'at least one (orleach) of the slide rods 21 of the front part Ilia of the catch bar is formed withraA longitudinalfslot-or groove 32 (Fig. 6) and a pivoted catch 33 is provided on the adjacent operating friction box Varm 25 to engage the rear edge of this slot. This catch 33 therefore` establishes a mechanical connection between the two bars Ia, Ib so that they are retracted in unison. At or about the time that the retractionof the front partk I 0a Vof the bar is to be'terminated by its stops 30 the catch 33` travels into contact with a release stop (which may be constituted by any convenient rod or shaft 34 of the machine) which moves it against a spring 35 to disengage from the slot 32 so that the rear part IIlb of the catch bar may Ycontinue to move rearwardly While the slide rods 21 slip through the friction boxes 26 and the front part Illa remains stationary. Asa result, the' catch 33 is inoperative to connect the two'parts of th'e'catch bar during their forward advance, but drops v into the slot 32 when the forward movement of thefront part Ia is ter- We claim: Y l. In a'straight bar knitting machine, having a sinker headfor receiving' individually-movable nected for relative' movement between them, the

former of which members is engageable lwith all -the` sinkersto align them in their advanced'position and to retract them in unison, and the latter of which members is adapted Ato advance the dividing sinkers in unison; mean-s Afor reciprocating both of said members; and means for causingl the rearmember to reach itsk forward limit of travel after the fron-t member has reached its forward limit.

2. In a straight bar knitting machine of the type having a falling bar, sinkers having butts advanced serially up to said bar, and interspersed sinkers having butts advanced in unison up to it, al1 of said sinkers being retracted in unison: the combination of a catch bar comprising separately movable front and rear parts slidably connected for relative movement lbetween them, said 'front part ,being engageable with the front of the butts of all sinkers to retract them in unison, and said rear part being engageable with the rear of the lbut-ts of said interspersed sinkers to advance them in unison to the falling fbar; means for guiding said. catch bar` parts for uniplanar rectilinear movements; and operating means for effecting forward movement of said front part prior to the serial advance of the first mentioned sinkers, forward movement of said rear part subsequent to said serial advance to move the interspersed sinkers in unison up to the falling bar, and retraction of the front part to retract all sinkers in unison.

3. A Yknitting machine according to claim 2, wherein the operating means directly actuates one of said catch bar parts, there being lost motion connections between the bar parts for transseparately movable parts, a front part for engaging in front of sinker Ibutts to retract themand a rear part for engaging behind sinker hutts to advance them, means for moving said parts towards and away from the sinker bed, and frictional connections between said bar parts whereby one may move while the other remains stationary..

5. In a straight ybar knitting machine of the tylpe having a sinker bed for sinkers equipped with butts; a catch bar comprising :front and rear parts, mounted for uniplanar movement towards and away from the sinker head, for engaging the butts between them, means for moving the rear part towards and away from the bed, friction box means for coupling the front part to said moving means, a stop for limiting the advance of the front part towards the bed, and a stop for yterminating the retraction of the front part from the bed before the rear part reaches the rearward eX- tremity of its travel.

6. In the combination claimed in claim 5, positive means for connecting the front part of the catch bar to the moving means during the retraction of said part, and means for releasing said connection preparatory to the advance of the rear part.

7. The combination stated in claim 2, wherein the rear part of the ecatch bar has constant engagement with the dividing sinkers to afford complete control of the latter at all times.

THOMAS CHARLES BROMLEY.' ARTHUR SHORTLAND. 

